Ocean Watch vs NOAA Tides
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ocean Watch
Access tide predictions for over 3,300 stations across the US and Caribbean. Visualize tide data with stunning graphics and an interactive almanac. Plan your activities with offline access to predictions and custom notes.
- 3,300+ tide stations
- Stunning graphics and visualizations
- Offline tide predictions
- Interactive almanac
- Integrated station map
- Custom notes and images
Read full descriptionHide full description
Find your tide. Ocean Watch tracks tides at 3,300+ stations on every US coast, on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. It works offline. • Offline forecasts. Decades of data and the prediction engine are built in, so the tide is there when the signal isn't. • Tidemarks. Set a height so you know when the water will float your dock or expose your beach. • Beauty with insight. Interactive graphs and visualizations that let you feel the flow over time. • Plan ahead. The Almanac lets you travel into the future and pick your window for fishing, sailing, surfing or paddling. • The big picture. The Weeks at a Glance view lets you see the monthly trends as the moon waxes and wanes. • The little picture. Apple Watch, no iPhone needed. Every station on your wrist, with always-on complications. • Widgets. The tide on your Home Screen and everywhere else. • Area Map. See what's here and where you're going. • Share and export. Send the current tide as a picture, or export a week as CSV or PDF. • Your place is special. We've supplied gorgeous local photographs for many areas, and you can add your own. Stations outside the US and Caribbean have limited support.
NOAA Tides
Get accurate tide predictions and real-time marine conditions for the US coast. This app provides beautiful charts, live weather, and wave data to help you plan your time on the water.
- Precise NOAA tide predictions
- Live marine conditions
- Tide times for US coast
- Beautiful charts
- Live weather data
- Wave data
Read full descriptionHide full description
Plan your perfect day on the water with precise NOAA tide predictions and live marine conditions. Check tide times anywhere on the US coast. Beautiful charts, live weather, and wave data - all in one app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: NOAA Tides at free against Ocean Watch's paid. NOAA Tides also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 9 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Ocean Watch's advantage is ratings volume (2.7K vs 1) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
NOAA Tides holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ocean Watch has 2.7K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Ocean Watch ships an update every 9 months, NOAA Tides daily. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ocean Watch | NOAA Tides |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (2.7K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 73.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2.7K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #166 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 137 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blue Bright Labs LLC | Vince Becquiot |
Customer experience
Ocean Watch
NOAA Tides
Bugs and requests
Ocean Watch
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when trying to open tide station details
- Tide data sometimes stuck on wrong location
- Apple Watch app not syncing or updating correctly
- Issues with the app's widget not displaying accurate information
Requested features
5 requests- Add water temperature and wind speed data
- Improve Apple Watch complication to show more detailed tide information
- Expand coverage to more locations, especially in Canada and other countries
- Add ability to set tide alerts or notifications
- Improve stability and reliability to reduce crashes
NOAA Tides
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ocean Watch
No in-app purchases
NOAA Tides
No in-app purchases







